Sunday lunch/dinner is a huge tradition over here in the UK . . .  with roast dinners and all the trimmings.  In fact in most pubs on a Sunday you can't order off the menu.  It's roast dinner or nothing.  Mind you, most give you a choice or beef, pork, lamb or turkey, so it's not that bad really.   We don't eat out on Sundays and we never have a roast dinner at home.  We spend half of the day in church and to be honest  . . . when I get home I can't be asked to cook a big roast dinner then.

I have always been a cook who makes good use of my leftovers.  Casseroles, hashes, salads, sandwiches, pot pies, soups . . .  there is no end to the uses I find for them.  I often find the leftovers more delicious than the main meal, and I don't think I am alone in that!  I cannot imagine anyone not liking leftovers!

This past week all of our friends across the pond in Canada celebrated their annual Thanksgiving holiday and in November our friends in America will be doing the same.  We don't do Thanksgiving over here in the UK, but we do love our Turkey's for Christmas and I thought it would be fun to share some of my turkey cooking tips with you all today.

I like to purchase a top quality bird for my holiday feasts, be it Thanksgiving or Christmas.  This is the one time of the year I will splurge and get a higher cost bird, and it goes without saying that I always choose free range and fresh if I can get it.  I may eat turkey minced, or in bits the rest of the year . . . but it is only this once a year that I cook the whole bird, so it is a real treat for us! (Christmas for us.)

I always remove all of the wrapping from my bird and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours unwrapped to help dry the skin out well.  That makes it a lot easier to rub any butter on and helps for nicely browned skin.  I also take it out at least an hour before cooking, which brings it to room temperature.  A cold bird put into a hot oven is a bit of a shocking experience and tightens up the tissue . . . we don't want a tough bird.  Moist and succulent is the order of the day.

To ensure a nicely moist turkey, I  like to rub a lot of butter into the flesh beneath the skin, and on top of the skin.  Now you can add seasonings and herbs to it, like I have done here today, which also adds extra flavour.  Sometimes I just slip a few sprigs of thyme, some salt, pepper and sage in with the butter, which works well also.  A bit of broth in the roasting tin and a few aromatic veggies and Bob's your Uncle.  Put that tasty bird over top of it all on a rack and start roasting!

I like to start mine off at a high temperature to assist in the browning, but after that I reduce the temperature to as low as it is safe to go and slow roast, basting it every 15 to 20 minutes with broth and more butter, or the pan juices.  (I know . . . but it's Thanksgiving/Christmas!)  If it starts to get too dark, I will tent it with some foil. 

It's really important that once your bird is done you set it aside, keep it warm and allow it to rest, so that all of those tasty juices will be absorbed back into the bird.  If you start to carve it right away, you're going to lose all of that moistness.  It will run out all over your cutting board.  Be patient.  Wait.  You'll be rewarded with an incredibly tasty and moist bird.

 

A lot of people swear by Brining . . . and others by dry brining.  I have tried both . . . and to be honest, I want my  turkey to taste like a turkey.    Dry brining with salt preserves the integrity of the bird . . . and in all honesty it doesn't end up being really salty.  Every wet brined bird I have ever cooked ended up tasting like the brine.  Not exactly my cup of tea.



This is an excellent video which gives some great instructions on dry brining.

You would be right in thinking that this bird I am showing you here today is not a turkey.  It's a chicken.  I'll be cooking my turkey at Christmas, but I did want to share a recipe with you that is fabulous when roasting a turkey, but also equally as delish when used on a chicken.


 (This is a large free range roasting chicken.)

It involves creating a delicious butter rub which you rub into the flesh beneath the turkey breast, beneath the skin . . . flavoured with a balsamic and maple syrups, shallots, thyme, seasoning salt and . . . lotsa butter!  As the turkey cooks that butter melts into the breast meat, flavouring it . . . moistening it, making it all scrummy.



Don't be afraid of butter . . . you're going to skim it off all of the juices anyways . . . and it does help to keep that tasty bird moist and delicious!

 

I don't stuff my birds with stuffing . . . not a chicken nor a turkey.  I like to cook the stuffing separately in a covered dish.  It's too iffy . . . you can never really  tell if it's cooked properly, and it can keep your turkey from cooking properly as well.  Best to be on the safe side and cook it separate.  You can flavour your bird from the inside out with other things . . . in this case some orange and onion.  I have even shoved bunches of herbs inside the bird with great success . . . but not stuffing.  Trust me on this.



However you choose to season your bird . . .  if you follow these few  tips, you are in for a real treat. (Start with a  QUALITY room temperature bird and hot oven,  lotsa butter beneath the skin, sear in the oven on high and then roast on low, baste, baste, baste . . . and let it rest before you cut into it!)


 

 *Roasted Turkey with a Balsamic & Maple Rub*
Serves 10 to 14
Printable Recipe
A moist and deliciously different turkey.  This rub works wonderfully  with a roast chicken as well.

one 5-7kg Turkey, rinsed and
patted dry with paper toweling

For the rub:
2 shallots, peeled and minced
3 TBS pure Maple Syrup
1 TBS Balsamic Glaze (a thick mixture created by boilig
Balsamic vinegar until it becomes thick and syrupy.  Use a good
quality.)
1 TBS dark soy sauce
2 tsp dried thyme
1 TBS seasoning salt
4 ounces of butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup)

You will also need:
1 large orange, washed, unpeeled and cut into eighths
3 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 cups of chicken or turkey stock (may need more)

Take the turkey from the refrigerator and allow to stand at room temperature for at least an hour before cooking.  (To insure a really dry skin surface, I remove it from the wrapping the night before cooking and pat it dry inside and out with paper towels.)

Make the rub by stirring together all of the ingredients until well blended.  Taste and adjust seasoning as required.

Preheat the oven to 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  Have ready a large roasting tin.

Put the carrots and 3/4 of the chopped onions in the bottom of the roasting tin.  Pour the stock over all.

Take your turkey and carefully loosen the skin around the main body cavity, sliding your fingers carefully inside to loosen it all over the breast.  Take care not to tear the skin.  Take the rub and push 3/4 of it under the skin, massaging it into the meat as best as you can.  I sometimes find this is easier to do by putting the butter under the skin and then massaging it down the breast from the outside of the skin.  Rub the remainder of the mixture on the outside of the turkey.  Place the remainder of the onion and the orange wedges inside the cavity of the turkey along with some salt and pepper.  Tuck the wings underneath as best as you can and tie the drumsticks together over the opening with some kitchen twine.  Place the bird on  a rack over top of the vegetables in the roasting pan, breast side up.

Roast in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.   Reduce the oven temperature to 160*C/325*F/gas  mark 4 and roast for a further 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices..  When it is done the juices should run clear when the bird is pricked between the thigh and breast.  You may need to tent the turkey with foil if it begins to get too dark.  You may also need to add more stock if the pan becomes too dry.  When it is done, transfer the turkey to a large carving board and tent with foil.  Allow to rest for at least 20 to 25 minutes before carving.

Strain the pan juices, discarding any vegetables.  Use these juices to make your gravy.

Note - to cook a chicken in this manner, rub with the balsamic and maple mixture in the same manner on a 2kg chicken and roast at 225*c/425*f/ gas mark 7 for 20 minutes.  Reduce the temperature to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3 for a further 45 to 60 minutes until done and the juices run clear, basting every 15 minutes or so.  I don't bother with a rack in this case. I just roast the chicken right on top of the vegetables.

Here are some of the tools I like to use when cooking my holiday bird.



Eddingtons Meat Thermometer for Poultry and Beef.    £8.95 from Kitchen Monger.  

  

For another way of roasting your holiday bird, why not try an Oven Roasting Bag.   These handy bags from Heuck fit up to 22lb Turkey, and make for a quick and easy clean up.  Good for roasting turkey, beef, lamb, pork, chicken or duck, and also available from Kitchen Monger at the price of £3.95 for a package containing two roasting bags. 

 

One of the most difficult things to do is to lift the turkey out of the roasting tin onto a platter.  They are heavy and awkward and somewhat cumbersome.  I have some really handy Turkey Lifters which make the job a whole lot easier.  You just slide them into to the bottom of the turkey at both ends, where the holes won't show and life the turkey out with ease.  This particular set from Eddingtons is durable  and easy to use and comes in a set of two.   Available at Amazon.uk for the price of  £2.95

Many thanks to Eddingtons for sending me these products to try out!

I love October . . .  it is in October that my taste palate turns to the colour orange and I just want to eat my fill of winter squash and pumpkins, carrots and sweet potatoes.  I don't crave these things in July and August,  or even September  . . . but once the calendar page flips over to October, I can't seem to get enough of them and I start incorporating them into whatever I can.

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a number of years now might remember a few years back when I did a review of this food company called Gousto.  Gousto is a London based company which is devoted to ensuring that families enjoy quality food in the comfort of their own homes, even after a busy day.  They have a professional team of chef's creating delicious recipes weekly.  All the shopping and measuring has been done for you.  All you have to do is to pick what you want to eat, and order it . . .oh, and cook it, of course, but if you are like me that's the easy part!



They contacted me again several weeks back and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing another review for them.   They said that they had made some improvements since my first time reviewing them and they were keen to have me do another review.   They did not have to ask me twice.  I remember really enjoying my past experience with them.

First of all the packaging was slightly different.  The box was extremely well packaged, the contents being divided and separated so the herbs and vegetables didn't spoil by getting too cold by being too near the meat and poultry. The meat and poultry were packed in a special woolcool bag which kept them perfectly cold.  ( This bag is biodegradable and can be put in the compost bin when taken out of the plastic.)    95% of the packaging materials Gousto uses are recyclable. Cardboard boxes can be disposed of in your recycling bins.

The vegetables are and Soil Association certified organic and Gousto use meat and poultry from high quality animal welfare British farms.  They have also lowered their prices by 17% and now offer meals costing between  £5.00 to £7.00 per portion, which includes delivery.  When you are talking about high quality, farm ingredients, this is pretty economical and on average that is substantially better than most supermarkets.   Gousto have worked really hard on making improvements and have passed on any savings to their customers.



Included in my delivery was everything I needed to make three main course meals, two (two serving) ones and one (four serving) one . . . fresh organic produce and meats in perfect quantities for each recipe, plus essentials such as stock cubes, herbs, etc.  There are only a few things that you might need to come up with yourself at home . . .  things such as olive or vegetable oil, vinegar, milk, butter, salt, pepper, sugar and flour . . .  the rest all comes in the box.  Also included are step by step recipe cards, a folder to keep your recipes in and a letter telling you exactly when you need to enjoy your meal by so that you don't risk things going out of date.



The first recipe I made was the Moroccan Chicken & Lemony Couscous.  The directions were very easy to follow.   They had sent the wrong almonds, sending me ground almonds instead of whole, but thankfully I had whole almonds in the cupboard.   The lemon was a bit on the green side, which doesn't really affect the flavour of the lemon, but was not as asthetically pleasing as a pure yellow one.   Also the onion was not fresh, having begun to spoil a bit, but I just trimmed off the bad part and used the rest.  I was a little bit surprised by that as, knowing it was going out for review, they should really have made sure everything was as it should be.

 

The dish however was absolutely fabulously delicious.   We both enjoyed it very much!  I would make it again.




Add the ras el hanout to a pan on a medium heat and cook for 1 minutes, or until the aroma is released.   Add 1 to 2 TBS of olive oil, the onion, the chilli, garlic and salt to taste.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion is caramelized, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't catch.   Meanwhile chop the chicken into strips.  Chop the apricots coarsely.  Add the chicken and apricots to the pan.  Dissolve the stock cube with 300ml (600ml) of boiling water and add to the pan.   Grate the zest of lemon and cut the lemon into quarters.   Add 2 (4) pieces of lemon to the pan.  Place a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.   Once the chiucken is done, squeeze out the pulp of the lemon over the sauce and discard the rind.


Add the lemon and couscous to a bowl.   Add 200ml(400ml) of boiling water to the bowl, cover well and set aside for 8 minutes.  Coarsely chop the almonds.  Fluff th ecouscous with a fork.   Serve the couscous on a plate with the chicken strips on top and the remaining lemon pieces   Drizzle with the sticky sauce and sprinkle with toasted almonds.  Enjoy.



The next recipe in the box was for a Lamb Moussaka with a side salad.   I have made moussaka many times myself and so I was really excited about trying their recipe.  It used potatoes, which I had never done when I had made my own.

 

Once again the instructions were very easy to follow.   All of the ingredients for this dish were fresh and present.  No mistakes there.   The finished dish was quite delicious.  I think I will add potatoes myself the next time I made moussaka.  The salad was a nice touch as well.   I liked the simple dressing of olive oil and yoghurt with some seasoning.  This was really good.



Meanwhile remove the ends of the lettuces and tear into bite sized pieces.  Transfer half of the yogurt into a bowl and mix with 1 TBS (2 TBS) of olive oil, season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.


Once everything is done, use half of the potato slices to line your oven proof dish.  Layer with half of the aubergine slices, followed by half of th e lamb mince and repeat until layering is complete.  Top with the remaing yogurt and season with black pepper to taste.  Put in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.


Allow th moussaka to cool slightly before eating.  it will improve the flavour and stop you from burning your mouth.   Toss the dressing over the salad and work into the leaves.   Serve the moussaka with the salad.  Enjoy!























 The third recipe was for Stilton & Pork Steaks with Pears and Pecans.  I actually have not made that recipe yet.  I froze the pork and cheese so that I can do it another time when I have more time.  But it does look very good.  If you want to know more about that recipe you can check it out on the Gousto Blog.

I have to say that one of the great things about this service is that there isn't any waste.  Often in the ships it is impossible to get exact amounts of what you need to cook a dish, more often than not leaving you with an acess of ingredients which may or may not be used in time.   Everything in the Gousto box gets used in order to make each recipe. Even the spices are measured out so there's no mystery, guessing or waste involved.

Gousto have recently launched a new website, so you can now easily make choices on your mobile phone. You can rate your recipes too and they're launching a few dozen new  features over the next few months. Have a look at their menu - with 10 recipes to choose from each week there's something for pretty much every taste. There is also no comittment, so there is  no monthly cost involved . . .  just a whenever you fancy ordering a box to make life easier way of doing things.  This is a fantastic option for those of you who are keen cooks, but don't have the time to faff about.  With this service all the faffing is done for you.  You simply have to throw everything together and enjoy the end results.   

At the moment you can get meals for as little as £3.30 with the order of your first box.   Also I have a code which you can use (which is only valid for 30 days) at the checkout.  You can use the code friends25 and get £25 off of your first box. 

 

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Their home page 

Many thanks to Gousto for sending me this box to use and enjoy.   The food was really tasty and I could not really find much fault with it, except for the two things I mentioned, which was really not all that bad in the scheme of things.  Although I was sent a box to use free of charge, any and all opinions are my own.

(My tiny kitchen)

I think I first fell in love with food and cooking when I was a very young girl.  My grandmother used to make exceptional soups, stews, preserves, roasts, breads, cakes, cookies and preserves . . . simple food, well prepared, using fresh ingredients or just whatever was in the larder.  I don't think she had a cookery book collection.  At best she might have had a community cookbook filled with recipes collected from the ladies in the community, or hand written recipe receipts given to her from friends . . .  possibly a cookbook put out by the flour companies.  For the most part she cooked from memory . . .  doing things the way her mother had taught her . . .  cooking by instinct, feel . . .  taste.

Things were simple then and there weren't really many unknown, unusual, or luxury ingredients available.  These days we are so blessed to have virtually a world of food and tastes at our fingertips.  Even so, there are some dishes which we should really know how to do from heart, without a recipe.  Oh . . .  yes, we can follow a recipe the first time we make them, but with time and experience, these are the recipes which we can become so adept at using that we rarely need to look them up again, and indeed we can put our own stamps on them.  They become recipes we know by heart, and these are mine.

With the leaves falling from the trees and the nights closing in, we must all prepare for the ridiculous rain and gusty winds that the British weather loves to throw at us in autumn.  So what better way to deal with the harsh weather conditions than getting in the kitchen and rustling up some delicious meals that will warm you down to the bone and leave you feeling all cosy inside.

Here are five of the best Welsh Beef and Welsh Lamb recipes to help you survive this autumn with your good humour and happiness intact:

Welsh Beef Goulash    
























If anyone knows how to eat during miserable autumn months, it's the eastern Europeans and one of the best dishes to come from this area is the Goulash.  Making a Welsh Beef Goulash is very easy and it can be lightly adjusted to your taste preferences.  This isn't exactly a quick recipe, but good food is very rarely fast.

Slow Cooked Curried Shoulder of Welsh Lamb

 



























What better way to warm yourself up in the autumn than by adding a touch of spice?  With this recipe, it isn't just the succulent Welsh Lamb that gives you a warm and mouth-watering feel - the curry and chilli powder give it that extra kick to heat you through even when the weather is miserable and your nose is running.

Welsh Beef Steak & Ale Pies  





























Is there anything more traditionally British than a Welsh Beef Steak and Ale Pie?  The only acceptable answer here is fish and chips, but steak and ale definitely outdates this seaside phenomenon.   This beautifully crusted  dish will give you plenty to sink your teeth into and fight away the winter blues.  This recipe is the perfect seasonal dish for this dark, wet time of year.

Slow Roasted Welsh Lamb Shanks  





























Lamb shanks are an extremely diverse meat and can be used in a wide range of recipes, but we believe that slow roasting shanks is easily one of the best ways to prepare them in autumn.   What's more, this is an incredibly simple dish to cook, all you have to do is brown the shanks, add the vegetables, season and then cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until the meat simply falls off the bone.  That means minimal work for you and your whole home gets that delicious lamb smell running through it giving it an extra cosy feel.

Spiced Welsh Lamb and Orange Cassoulet  






























Spiced citrus fruits are quintessentially autumn, and this Welsh Lamb and Orange Cassoulet is perfect for those shorter days.  It is a slightly more complicated recipe than those listed above, but if you're a handy chef then it should pose no real difficulty.  This lush meal will have all your family grinning from ear to ear even if it's raining cats and dogs outside.

When it comes to preparing a meal this autumn, make sure you use only the best grass-fed Welsh meat.   This will help to give your recipes the most authentically British flavour and make your autumn nights the best they can be.

For more recipe ideas from the people who love food, visit Eat Welsh Lamb Today.

  

I was sent a really nice piece of kitchen kit a few months back from the people at Eddingtons.



The PL8 Gourmet Slicer.   I've been really putting it through it's paces over the weeks and wanted to tell you all about it today.   Since I've been using it for all sorts, I've kind of thrown together a meal for your viewing pleasure . . .  some really delicious marinated lamb chops with a potato side dish, a deliciously fruity slaw and a tasty dessert, most of which (with the exception of the lamb) I have been able to use this handy piece of kitchen kit for!  In other words . . .  a really "Grate" meal, every pun intended!